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What I Saw Treating the Victims from Parkland Should Change the Debate on Guns

12 points by helloworld 9y ago

na85 9y ago
Are Americans more homicidal in nature than the rest of the developed world, or is it perhaps that Canada, Britain, France, Germany, et al have gun control laws? I see no third explanation.
- trixie_ 9y ago
  It's a cultural thing tool. Many Americans are very individualistic, mean, self-centered, and lack compassion. I say this as an American. Look at our president and the millions that support him. These people just have an angry personality. The people on the left aren't much better. Even these kids after the shooting protested, "You're either with us or against us." That is the American mentality. As a country we lack compassion. * Health care - Get cancer, go broke. * Education - Teachers paid nothing. Go to college, go broke. * Social System - Poor handling of the mentally ill, homeless and veterans. * Correctional system - A hell on earth. This is the result of a selfish "I got mine jack" society. We worship power, guns, and strength. Isn't a mass shooting just those three attributes incarnate? You don't have to be crazy. It's already in our blood.
- prepend 9y ago
  Actually yes. There’s a cool book called “Our Better Angels: The Decline of Violence” by Pinker that goes into why the US is more violent than Europe. Also different parts like the South are more violent. Basically it has to do with lack of strong authority.
IntronExon 9y ago
I’m for gun control, but it is important to realize that the wounds he describes could equally be made by a hunting rifle. The nature of terminal ballistics in this case is a function of the muzzle velocity of the round. This doctor is familiar it seems with handguns, which are generally no more than 1500fps. By contrast a hunting rifle will tend to be around 3000fps. For comparison, a shotgun shooting slugs with a heavy load might be 2200fps, but with more mass being moved. A .45 handgun will generally be less than 1000fps.
- js2 9y ago
  It's the combination of high muzzle velocity with a semi-automatic weapon that is particularly lethal. If we restricted semi-automatic weapons larger than 22 caliber, that would likely greatly reduce the number of fatal injuries in these mass shooting events. It's going to slow the shooter down having to reload each shot. But: most gun homicides in America happen with handguns. So you'd be banning an entire class of weapons in order to save a relatively small number of lives. Obviously we've drawn some lines where we consider some weapons too lethal: no one gets to own fully automatic weapons. Or hand grenades. So we'd be deciding that semi-automatic high velocity weapons fall into the "too lethal" category. It wouldn't prevent mass shootings - but it would make events like Las Vegas less lethal. (Of course, there's the separate problem of preventing the newly banned weapons still in circulation from ending up in the hands of would-be mass shooters.)

12 points by helloworld 9y ago

na85 9y ago

Are Americans more homicidal in nature than the rest of the developed world, or is it perhaps that Canada, Britain, France, Germany, et al have gun control laws? I see no third explanation.

trixie_ 9y ago
It's a cultural thing tool. Many Americans are very individualistic, mean, self-centered, and lack compassion. I say this as an American. Look at our president and the millions that support him. These people just have an angry personality. The people on the left aren't much better. Even these kids after the shooting protested, "You're either with us or against us." That is the American mentality. As a country we lack compassion. * Health care - Get cancer, go broke. * Education - Teachers paid nothing. Go to college, go broke. * Social System - Poor handling of the mentally ill, homeless and veterans. * Correctional system - A hell on earth. This is the result of a selfish "I got mine jack" society. We worship power, guns, and strength. Isn't a mass shooting just those three attributes incarnate? You don't have to be crazy. It's already in our blood.
prepend 9y ago
Actually yes. There’s a cool book called “Our Better Angels: The Decline of Violence” by Pinker that goes into why the US is more violent than Europe. Also different parts like the South are more violent. Basically it has to do with lack of strong authority.

IntronExon 9y ago

I’m for gun control, but it is important to realize that the wounds he describes could equally be made by a hunting rifle. The nature of terminal ballistics in this case is a function of the muzzle velocity of the round. This doctor is familiar it seems with handguns, which are generally no more than 1500fps. By contrast a hunting rifle will tend to be around 3000fps. For comparison, a shotgun shooting slugs with a heavy load might be 2200fps, but with more mass being moved. A .45 handgun will generally be less than 1000fps.

js2 9y ago
It's the combination of high muzzle velocity with a semi-automatic weapon that is particularly lethal. If we restricted semi-automatic weapons larger than 22 caliber, that would likely greatly reduce the number of fatal injuries in these mass shooting events. It's going to slow the shooter down having to reload each shot. But: most gun homicides in America happen with handguns. So you'd be banning an entire class of weapons in order to save a relatively small number of lives. Obviously we've drawn some lines where we consider some weapons too lethal: no one gets to own fully automatic weapons. Or hand grenades. So we'd be deciding that semi-automatic high velocity weapons fall into the "too lethal" category. It wouldn't prevent mass shootings - but it would make events like Las Vegas less lethal. (Of course, there's the separate problem of preventing the newly banned weapons still in circulation from ending up in the hands of would-be mass shooters.)